The Girls in the Garden or The Looking Glass Self
by Temperance-is -a -virtue
Summary: BB...B? Can you handle it? Temperance is in for a rude awakening when her old schoolmate comes back into her life.It will get BB later on, I promise.
1. Chapter 1

She walked into the Jeffersonian Institute, eyes forward, head high, hips swaggering and a million whiplashes behind her.

Maybe it was the way her tight jeans strained and swayed with those hips. Or it could have been the knee-high boots she paired with them. Or the salmon pink blouse she had on that had a slit, separating the words TRAIL and BLAZER written in gold letters on her top.

But most likely it was the blue eyes and brown hair of Doctor Temperance Brennan that had everyone in frenzy…

Angela Montenegro had almost finished her sketch. With a stroke of the pencil here and a little more shading there, it was the spitting image of the man that was across the room, examining only Heaven knew what in a Petri dish. She was about to put more curls in when she heard somebody say:

"Holy Mother Teresa."

Angela looked up, first at Zach who had made the comment then at what had caught his attention.

Angela was sure the Mystery Potion they had served her last night at the bar was just coming back to haunt her, because that could never be Doctor Brennan, her best friend, in skin tight jeans!

"Am I dreaming?" asked Jack as he looked closer at the sight of Doctor Brennan winking at the janitor. "And if I am, nobody wake me up."

"You said it." Said Zach dreamily, not even noticing when Angela pushed Jack off the chair.

Brennan walked into the room, all smiles. There was something strange going on and Angela was going to find out what.

"Mornin'." She gave everybody an acre-wide smile.

"Are you alright, Doctor Brennan?" Zach asked

"'Course I am, sugar. Why?"

"Since when do you dress like this?" Angela asked.

"And could you never stop?" Jack added.

"Oh, thank you for the compliment! You are so cute!" Doctor Brennan ran her hand in Jack's hair.

"Did Booth put you up to this?" Angela was almost sure the answer would be in the affirmative. "Are you two going away again?"

"Sure." The new Brennan smiled even bigger. "Show me which one of these cuties is Booth is and I'll go to the moon with him."

Three pairs of eyelids shot to the ceiling.

She laughed this time, her eyes lit up with mirth Brennan could never achieve. "Oh, honeys, I'm just joking with you. I'm not Temperance Brennan."

"You're not?"

"No, of course not! Would Temps ever dress like _this_?'

The nickname was a new one on Angela. "So if you aren't Doctor Brennan, who are you?"

At that precise moment, the real Doctor Brennan walked in.

"Ooh, Twilight Zone." Jack and Angela said simultaneously.

"Basia," Bren had anger mixed with surprise on her face, "Basia Thomas. What are you doing here?"

"Temps!" Basia turned around and looked at her spitting image. They could have been glancing into a mirror. "I can't believe it! You look so good!"

"What do you want, Basia?" Bren folded her arms against Basia's hugs and kisses.

She sobered considerably and her voice became pleading. "Temperance, honey, I need your help."

"What is it this time? I'm not helping you out like last time."

"No." Basia's tone finally became sober, "I mean I need your _expert_ help."


	2. Chapter 2

HI all ...

I know some people out there have been wondering if I fell off the side of the planet. But I DIDNT, actually. The only reason that I didn't continue writing the story for such a long time is that my mom's lap top was stolen and in the face of that injustice, my computer days were put on hold. But now I am at school where I have access to a computer and so I can continue. Oh, and my friend said I should do this disclaimer thing so here we go...

Disclaimer: Have you had this story in your possession the entire time (patting me down)

Virtue: Yes sir, I have.

Disclaimer: Are these characters yours?

Virtue: Uh, no. They're actually FOX's. I was hoping I could borrow them.

Disclaimer: As long as you do them justice that's fine. Please step this way. And by the way... nice calves

Virtue: Thanks, I guess. (Whisper: What a weirdo!)

Special agent Seely Booth wanted to know why everybody in the Jeffersonian had taken to staring at him as he walked in that morning. He was about to give one of them a piece of his mind when he looked in a reflective surface and saw for himself.

There was a large red stain on his tie.

"Aww, nuts." He exclaimed. Why did crap like this only happen when you're running late? Hopefully he could find a replacement in his car somewhere, after he got Bones.

He walked into Squint Central, focusing on his tie and not looking properly around the room.

"Bones," he said without looking at her, "here is some advice. Never eat pizza for breakfast. Look at this; I have sauce where sauce shouldn't be."

"Want me to help you lick it off?"

"No, thank you but- what?"

That's when he finally looked around the room. He saw Zach, Jack, Angela, Bones and... Wait a minute. He had to close his eyes and shake his head to make sure that he didn't just see two Bones standing beside each other! But when he opened them, they were both still there. One was the Bones he was used to in a crisp white shirt and a grey skirt that clung to her for dear life and the other was in a pink top, the collar slit so far he didn't need his imagination and a pair of jeans that looked like they were painted on.

"Did somebody slip something into my Root Beer this morning?" he asked.

The new Bones smiled. His Bones shook her head.

"No, this is my old schoolmate Basia Thomas. She came here to... well she was just about to explain that. Basia this is my partner, Agent Seely Booth of the F.B.I."

If it were possible, the new Bones-Basia- smiled wider.

"Oh, so you're the Booth I've heard so much about." She walked closer to him, closing in on his personal space. Booth had to back up because she was almost touching him.

"Basia." Bones said in a warning voice.

"Hm?"

"You still haven't explained why you're here."

"Oh yeah. That." She held onto Booth's tie and he flinched besides himself. She giggled

"Down, boy. Don't worry. I have some Tide to Go in my bag." she unknotted the tie and headed over to a large blue bag where she got the stain remover and started to work on Booth's tie.

" Well, it all started when me and this guy named William started to go out. He was tall, handsome, bright, looked so darn good in a pair of jeans. You know those guys who- "

"Get on with it, Basia." said his Bones.

"Okay. Well, I had a pair of twin nieces named Thandie and Talia. They used to come over to mine and Will's house. So, one day I had to go to some stupid meeting that was so ..." she sniffed, "I didn't have to go. I thought that because Will really seemed to like them and they liked him that he would take care of them.

"When I came back I saw Will digging in the back yard, but I didn't think anything of it because the girls had asked me to make a garden around the back yard for them. They had asked me to get Pop Tarts for them. I mean, who eats Pop Tarts?"

"I do." said Jack and Zach in unison. Basia looked at them and smiled.

"Oh, that's so cute. I went looking for them. All over the house I looked. No sign of them any where. I asked Will but he said he left them in the house. The only logical explanation I had at the time was that they ran away. But why would they, you know? I called my sister and the police and we have been searching for them ever since.

"They would have been twelve now. Since then, Will and I broke up. But the other day I was walking my puppy Miles and he started digging in the garden. He took out a bone and Temps, it looked human."

"Oh, no." said Angela.

"I don't wanna suspect him of anything, but doesn't that suspicious to you?" Basia asked, almost pleading.

"It sounds a hell of a lot more than suspicious," Bones declared what was on all their minds, "it sounds like a case."

"Case?" Basia asked, "What kind of case?"

"An F.B.I case, of course."

Basia's face brightened, "Oh, really? You'll help me?"

"Sure." He grabbed the new Bones by the elbow and his Bones by the hand, "I just have to carry you to F.B.I headquarters to give a statement and if he's left the state, we will have a legitimate case"

"He's living in Maryland now in his mom's old house." Said Basia as Booth dragged the two of them to the door.

"So why the heck am I going?" Bones asked, "And why are you dragging me like you own me?"

They exited the room, leaving Angela Zach and Jack behind.

"Did you understand what just happened?' asked Angela.

"A tear in the space-time continuum?" Zach offered.

"Whatever it is" said Jack with a smile on his face, "that Basia girl is HOT!"

Zach didn't miss it this time when Angela pushed him off the chair.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who took time out to compliment me on this story. I promise to not keep you in the dark so long again. And actually, I have no explanation of why they look alike other than the fact that Basia is Bones' mirror image, doing everything opposite to what she would do. Less lame explanations are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi... Hopefully this was not too long a delay for you all. I have been sitting on this piece of the story for a week. Disclaimer: I don't own these characters… except Basia, she's totally mine. Only overactive imaginations can cultivate such insane genius as a character like Basia. Anyway, back to the story…

Temperance had been sitting in the same chair for half an hour while Booth and Basia went wherever and did whatever so that Basia could state her case. She had no reason to be there. She could be back at the Jeffersonian identifying the remains that had been sent to her yesterday that had been found in a mass grave out in the desert. Or she could be tidying up her office. Or she could be devising a way to get herself out of Washington D.C before Basia realized she was gone.

Of course, the real problem was Basia. Their relationship had never been pleasant and Temperance found she liked it that way. She had always been compared to her in school or otherwise grouped together. People always thought they were sisters, or worse twins! Temperance didn't think there was anybody in the world that she would least want to share her D.N.A.

Basia was the more outgoing one, they had always said. She was the one who had started waving pom - poms before she was old enough to know what they were. She won their school's annual fund-raising beauty contest three times in a row (not that Temperance herself had ever entered). She may not have been the brightest spark (that was Temperance) but everybody liked her. And hardly anyone paid Temperance any mind.

She saw Basia coming around the corner and got up, thinking it was finally time to leave.

"Where's Booth? Let's go."

"Honey, we're not finished yet." Said Basia, twirling her hair around her finger as she spoke; "Now they got me in there asking me a whole lot of questions I can't even understand. All about William, if I know his whereabouts and all that."

"Whereabouts means if you know where he is, Basia." said Temperance without even a whisper of patience in her voice.

Basia gave her a look that suggested that she already knew that. Temperance wasn't convinced.

"Anyway, Temps, do me a favour. Can you go to the Dunkin' Donuts down the road and get us all some donuts?" Basia pushed car keys and a wallet into her hand, " I'm hungry , you're hungry, the agents in there are hungry…we all could use a donut. You know the type I like. Thanks, babe."

And she took off down the hall again.

I have to cut it short here. I'll be back really. Really soon to write the rest. But now I'm being run out of the computer lab. Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

I know I promised to put in the rest of the last chapter really soon, and I expected to a lot sooner than this, but schoolwork had other plans for me. But I am here now and I have ample time to write the rest of the chapter today. 

Disclaimer: The usual…don't own nobody 'cept Basia.

**DO NOT DONUT**

Temperance started up Booth's S.U.V, throwing Basia's wallet on the passenger's seat beside her.

That was her seat…

Not officially, of course. She really hadn't verbally claimed the front passenger seat in Booth's car as her own. But everyone knew without her telling them that anytime she got into the car, that she got that seat automatically.

Everyone except Basia.

"Basia,Basia,Basia!" Temperance mumbled, not knowing how much she sounded like jealous Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch. Why did she always get everything? Why did she always get _away with_ everything? Old anger resurfaced. She vowed to pay Basia back for pushing her out of the way when she was getting into the front seat. She knew Booth noticed, but he didn't say any thing.

As she pulled into Dunkin' Donuts, it occurred to Temperance that she was indeed one of the people giving Basia what she wanted. The woman even took it for granted that she knew what type of donuts she preferred! She was mentally scolding herself when she reached to the counter.

"May I take your order?"

Because Basia was still on her mind, Temperance snapped at the poor defenseless teenager.

"Why the hell not? That's what you're there for, isn't it?"

"Would you like some coffee, ma'am?" the poor girl cowered behind the cash regiser.

Temperance sighed. The girl had done nothing to her. She wasn't angry at _her._

"I'm sorry. I'd like a dozen glazed donuts and…" she couldn't believe she actually remembered. "A dozen of the chocolate frosted donuts, please? How much is that?"

"Twenty-four?" said the cashier.

Temperance glared at her, "No. I mean how much does that cost?"

_No wonder you don't have my job_, Temperance thought rudely as the girl calculated Basia's tab. She opened Basia's wallet to take out the money to pay the girl, but her heart skipped a beat as she looked at a picture that was stuck behind the clear plastic.

There were four people in the photograph. All four had on large smiles, brown hair and they were standing close together. The family resemblance was uncanny. Two little girls, who were obviously Basia's nieces, were dressed alike in similar blue dresses and red head bands. Temperance recognized Basia's sister Rushelle immediately. She wore her hair shorter than Temperance remembered. She held one of the twins by the hand. And then there was Basia herself, her hair in a fountain of curls, a beautiful white dress on. Temperance couldn't help but admit how pretty she looked.

She had taken out the picture to get a better look at it. She was about to put it back when she noticed another picture in the wallet. In it she clearly saw- her own face!

She could always tell herself apart from Basia, but she didn't need that power this time, as Basia was standing beside her, grinning her 32's into the camera. The cameraman caught Temperance in the middle of a scowl.

"What on…" she drew the picture out of the wallet.

They were in front of a banner, but Temperance could not read what was written on it. Their semi-formal dress suggested that they were at some school function. But the surprising thing was the action going on in the corner of the picture. Somebody was falling out of the camera's focus and from Basia's body language; it seemed that she was the one who pushed him. Basia had jumped into Temperance's picture!

It had to be the straw that broke the camel's back. How dare she jump into the picture, pushing out the guy who seemed to be her date, no less? Temperance couldn't remember who the guy was, but she had probably liked him!

"Here are your donuts." Said the half-witted teenager, handing the two boxes to Temperance

"Thanks." She took them and had to restrain herself from not dropping the boxes on the floor and stomping on them. In the car, she put the boxes and the wallet on _her_ seat and drove off a little faster than she needed to.

It was stuff like this that annoyed her about Basia. She acted like she ran the world, and people let her. She went around pushing people's dates out of pictures and still came out looking like she was innocent. Temperance was tired of people thinking Basia was a saint. So her nieces had died. Temperance really felt sorry about that, because they looked like really beautiful children. But for some reason she was now obligated to help her. Not that she wouldn't help Basia, but Temperance could bet that a whole lot of other people would be more willing to help her. She hated having to do stuff for Basia!

As she pulled into the parking lot of the F.B.I building, her rational conscience kicked in. In her time of need, Basia had turned to someone she knew had the expertise to help her, somebody familiar. But as quickly as this rational thought surfaced, it left her again. Basia knew that hers and Temperance's relationship was strained. She could have avoided the friction that was bound to develop after a while. It was all her fault!

Now readers, you will realize that Temperance is not thinking logically at this point. It is of course not Basia's fault that she is in this predicament. She cannot be blamed for the killings, though she may blame herself. But as in all strained relationships, everything is always the other person's fault.

She found Basia surrounded by agents, pulled her aside, handed her the boxes and the picture and said, "Explain."

Basia's face lighted up, "Oh, you found it! I actually wanted to show you this picture, but I couldn't remember where I put it! Do you remember this day? It was fun, wasn't it?"

Temperance couldn't see how, "You pushed my date out of the picture."

Basia's face took on a confused expression. "Nuh-uh! Don't you remember what had happened? Let me remind you. You were supposed to come with Jordan Hemmingway, but he caught the Chicken Pox from his sister. So you were all alone. The cameraman didn't want to take you alone in the picture, so he called out to everyone and asked who would be willing to take the picture with you. At the same time, Mark Flint came running. I knew you seriously hated him; we all did, so I ran in and pushed him out of the way before the shutter went off. Do you remember now?"

Temperance didn't remember. But if that was how it went, she was grateful. Mark Flint had been a despicable human being.

"Thank you for the donuts, Temps. And you got my favourite! You are a sweetheart!" Basia opened the box and stuffed a pastry into her mouth. She offered Temperance the box before offering the agents she had been talking to before Temperance came in.

"What's going on here? A donut party?" Booth asked as he entered. Basia offered him a pastry as well.

. She handed Booth a napkin to wipe the frost off his fingers and in the middle, decided to wipe them for him. And smooth the front of his jacket. And fixing his tie…

Temperance suddenly felt like punching a brick wall.

"So what's the news, Big Guy?" Basia asked.

Booth chewed thoughtfully before he answered, "Well Basia, I don't know how to tell you this but…"

"It's okay; I can handle you telling me that William killed the twins. I had guessed it since I found those bones in my backyard." Basia assured him.

"Okay, then hopefully you can deal with the fact that William may have also killed half a dozen little girls before he and you became acquainted. And the fact that he is still at large means that he might have killed more. Basia, you were living with a serial killer."

As Booth finished talking, Basia began to nod, a little wildly, and smile. Then her eyes rolled into her head and she slumped into a dead faint.

Thanks to all of you reading, and please feel free to comment. Thanks also to my cousin (whom I doubt is reading this) for the name of this chapter. See ya next time! 


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everybody! I had to forget about writing for a while. I had to work on a Lit Review for Research class. But I am back; hopefully this part won't be disappointing to you. I promise the next chapter will be more exiting.

Disclaimer: the usual. Basia's mine. If I owned Seely Booth, I'd marry him.



_Basia… Basia… Basia! Wake up!_

Basia stirred. She felt as if she had just come from an all night party, something she hadn't done in years. Hopefully it wasn't morning yet. She would hate to go to the Art Gallery where she worked feeling like a bus hit her, backed up, and flattened her under its wheel. Her bed felt cold and hard like a park bench.

"_Hey everybody. I think she's coming around."_ A voice crept through her sleep-filled mind. The voice sounded like her dad's.

Oh no. She was home.

"_Well, it's about time." _

Her mother's crisp, slightly annoyed voice penetrated her semi-awake brain. Oh shoot! If Mom was here, when she and Dad divorced years ago, then that meant they thought something was wrong with her! It was the only thing they could ever agree on.

"_Basia! Basia, get up!"_

"Mom, Dad, leave me alone. I want to sleep." Basia attempted to turn on her bed, but it was suddenly too small.

"_Basia, get up. You've been out cold for ages. I think maybe you…"_

"Dad, I'm not on drugs, I'm not pregnant, and I'm not dating Skull anymore. Rushy has more problems than me. Go bother her."

"_Who the heck is Rushy?"_

"_It's what she calls her sister Rushelle."_ Said her mother.

"_Basia, you're in the lab at the Jeffersonian! You need to get up 'cause Bones needs the examination table. Maybe we should- Bones! What did you do that for?"_

For Temperance had finally gotten frustrated and suddenly slapped Basia across the face so hard it stung. But it did get Basia awake.

She sat up, rubbing her cheek. Looking around, she saw she was indeed in the lab at the Jeffersonian. Booth and Temps were standing beside the illuminated examination table she was on.

"Why am I on a table?" she asked.

"You fainted when I told you that your boyfriend William was a serial killer." Booth said as he helped her down. "I think you may be exhausted. You started sleeping after a while."

The room was spinning slightly. She held on to Booth's hand and he led her away from Temps, who had started to arrange a skeleton on the table Basia had been on. Basia had always been a little jealous that Temps could do that.

"So did you have fun examining me?" Basia asked Booth.

"Well, I didn't…"

"Have fun?"

"Examine you."

Angela gave her the seat she had been occupying beside Zach, "Are you alright now, Basia? You were out for a long time."

"Yeah, I think I'm okay." The room had stopped spinning.

"So the whole thing with your boyfriend killing your nieces took its toll, huh?" asked Jack from behind a computer.

It was true. She hadn't been sleeping much. Ever since Thandie and Talia disappeared, her nights had been more occupied with guilt than sleep. If it had not been for her going to that stupid Neighbourhood Watch meeting, she would still have her girls. If she hadn't left them with a serial killer…

She took the glass of water somebody handed to her and sipped before speaking, "They were my girls, you know? I loved them like my own."

"I bet you did. That's why we are gonna work hard to track him down and stop him before he hurts any more innocent girls." Booth put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll work as hard as we can Basia."

She smiled at him, "You're such a good guy, Booth. If I weren't already in love with Zach, I would ask you to marry me."

"What? OW!"

She looked over and saw Zach rubbing his eye. He had bumped it on the microscope he had been looking into, unaware of the conversation around him.

"Don't be humble, Zach. I knew you were putting your moves on me this morning," Basia teased, "And they worked. Aren't you glad?"

"Huh?" was all he could answer.

Jack chuckled from behind the monitor. "Funny."

But even the joke couldn't lift her mood. She had to get out. Not away from them, these were good people. But to a club or something. It was her way of coping with her loss.

"I have to go." Basia picked up her bag and stood up. The room wasn't spinning anymore.

"Would you like me to drop you home?" asked Booth.

Basia smiled, "No thanks. I'm not going home yet. I gotta go to my old workplace, actually. It's an amusement park" that wasn't a lie, "To visit my Mom's friend" that was only partially a lie, "She has something I need to collect for my Mom." That was a bare-faced lie. Sophie had not talked to Justine Thomas in almost a decade. "Actually, I can get you all in free. You wanna come?"

After a bit of convincing, they all thought it was a great idea. Basia walked back over to where Temps stood.

"You coming, honey?"

"What?" said Temperance, who hadn't realized Basia was beside her. She tried to shield her from the examination table. Hopefully Basia didn't notice what she was doing.

"Ha! You're just like Zach! We're all going to the amusement park. Do you want to come?"

"Okay," said Temperance, wanting anything other than Basia to see her dead niece's bones lying in the examination table.

 Isn't it ironic that Basia went to a Neighbourhood Watch meeting while her nieces were being killed? Comment on the chapter, even though I haven't really given you much to work with. Hopefully, the chapter coming will please you more. Amusement Park!!! WEEE!!!


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